SAD-BJP panel gets lowdown on property tax

The six-member joint committee of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the BJP on Tuesday had detailed discussions on property tax imposed in Punjab. Secretary, local bodies, Ashok Gupta briefed the committee about the issue.

Committee members SAD secretary general Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, SAD's Rajya Sabha MP Balwinder Singh Bhundar, and the BJP's Ashwani Sharma, Rajinder Bhandari and Narottam Dev Ratti were present at the meeting. Akali MP Ranjit Singh Brahmpura was absent as he is on a foreign tour.

The committee would again meet on September 9. In the meantime, it would visit Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Bathinda and SAS Nagar. After taking feedback from stakeholders, the committee would compile a report and suggest changes in the system of charging property tax.

The committee was formed on the recommendations of the Tandon committee report (led by BJP leader Balramji Das Tandon), which pointed out shortcomings in the government functioning which led to the below-par performance by the SAD-BJP coalition in Punjab in the parliamentary polls. In the next meeting, it has been decided to call officers of the industries and excise departments, who would talk about the system of tax collection by the government and its perception with the stakeholders.